390 PIGEONS AND SAND-GROUSE. 



drinking, these birds thnist their bill into the water, and retain it there till their 

 thirst is quenched, after the manner of pigeons. The young are covered with a close 

 and beautifully patterned down, and are able to run as soon as hatched. The only 

 nest is a hole scratched in the sand ; and the eggs, generally three in number and 

 oval in shape, are double-spotted with brown and pale violet on a ground-colour 

 which is generally cream or buff, but more rarely pale red, the pale violet spots 

 being more deeply imbedded in the shell than the others. The eggs are like those 

 of the rails, and unlike those of the game-birds, which are always single-spotted. 

 PaUas's In this genus the first toe is absent, while the short front toes 



Sand-Orouae. ^j-e densely covered with feathers, and the central pair of tail-feathers 

 are produced into long thread-like points. In Pallas's sand-grouse {Syrrliaptes para- 

 doxus), the first quill of each wing is greatly lengthened and attenuated at the 

 extremity, but in the other species {8. tihetamis), which is a native of Tibet, these 

 feathers are much less developed. Pallas's sand-grouse has the general colour of 

 the upper-parts pale buff barred with black, the breast being pale grey shading into 

 dii-ty white, and the under-parts black. The male is distinguished by having the 

 throat and a patch of feathers on each side of the neck rust-coloured, the rest of 

 the head and neck uniform greyish, and a band of white feathers barred with black 

 across the chest. In the female, on the other hand, the patches of feathers on the 

 neck and throat are pale yellow, and the throat is bounded below by a narrow black 

 band ; the top of the head, back, and sides of the breast being spotted with black, 

 and the band across the chest absent. The interest attaching to this bird lies in 

 the incursions which it has from time to time made into Europe, more often in 

 comparatively small numbers, but in the years 1863 and 1888 in enormous flocks, 

 many of which arrived on the eastern coasts of Great Britain, and spread inland 

 to nearly every county, some individuals even reaching the Scilly Islands and 

 Ireland, and others the Shetlands and Faroes. The reason of these migrations is 

 without any satisfactory explanation, especially as the flocks arrive in spring. 

 It seems hardly probable that they could have been driven back by stress of 

 weather while attempting to reach their breeding-haunts, since they are able to 

 endure severe cold, and have arrived in South Siberia in the end of March. 

 Biack-BeUied This species (Pterocles arenarius) represents a genus distinguished 



Sand-Grouse. \yy the naked feet, the presence of the first toe, and by the central pair 

 of tail-feathers not being elongated. Common during the cold season in the north- 

 western parts of India, this bird does not breed within the limits of the empire. 

 It prefers the great sandy plains where water is easily accessible, but in places, 

 where the rivers are too distant for it to resort to, it frequents such few tanks as 

 are to be found. In the early morning ploughed land is a very favourite haunt, 

 and there large numbers may be seen squatting close together and basking in the 

 morning rays cf the sun. Like the rest of their kind, these birds are in the habit 

 of taking a midday siesta when the sun is hot, but when the weather is cold and 

 cloudy they are moving about all day. They scratch about among the loose loam 

 like so many hens till they have made a comfortable depression that fits them, 

 and there they repose, sunning first one side and then the other, and apparently 

 thoroughly enjoying the scorching heat. During their siesta they are never closely 

 packed, but scattered over the ground singly or in twos and threes. 



